Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds.
– Regina Brett
Summer is here!
Summer is powerfully amongst us with longer light-filled days, warm weather, and a time to celebrate nature’s abundant growth. Summer extends a personal invitation for us to care for our body and soul in a manner that directs outer awareness from the physical environment within.
Although summer comes midyear, it carries an unspoken yet deeply felt message of profound reawakening and renewal.
It opens the door for both, doing more activities and extending an invitation for us to slow down, relax, and literally enjoy the light of summer, physically and spiritually. Taking intentional time on your behalf showers you with effervescent reverence that touches all others in your circle, gifting them as well!
Here Are 10 Summer Self Care Rituals:
1. Do Nothing for A Day:
One of the best ways to soak up the summer abundance is found in harnessing the additional daylight, sun, and warmth by slowing down. Give yourself a “downtime” day to simply be. This restores body, mind, and spirit while actually increasing your resilience and restoring energy. Release the notion that since the weather is nicer and the days are longer that you should be doing more with the additional daylight hours! It’s summer!
2. Place Your Bare Feet on the Ground:
Come into contact with summer, literally, by going outside barefoot and standing on the grass, dirt, or sand. Breathe deeply and take it all in. There are such life and energy here! Making physical contact connects and grounds you to abundant life found all around while reconnecting you to your life.
3. Go Outside:
Research shows that being outdoors releases stress, reduces anxiety and depression, while increasing our feel-good hormones, giving us ease and calm. Nature is naturally therapeutic! Take a bike ride, hike or walk, paddleboard or canoe, or just sit in a scenic, natural place! Go with a group or solo.
4. Eat Local and Seasonal Produce:
Bring on the fresh seasonal produce and vegetables! When buying and eating local and what’s in season, you not only support yourself healthfully but your community of farmers as well!
5. Stay Hydrated:
Bring on the summer taste of water for nourishing hydration. Summer’s energy and heat call for us to stay well hydrated. Create a special seasonal hydration drink using herbal teas as a base, or using seasonal berries, fruits, citrus, and veggies such as cucumbers. Combine it with fresh mint, basil or other herbs for added benefits.
Bonus Tip: Make plenty to fit in a pitcher or larger container and you will naturally drink more throughout the day. Be creative with your healthy hydration drink creation.
6. Get Up Earlier:
If you’re not a morning person and work a late-night shift, it’s ok to skip this one! If you are a morning person and/or need to wake early for work, get up earlier and take in the beautiful peace that comes from the early morning light and quietness. Catching an early morning sunrise is a bonus as well!
7. Watch the Sunset:
Notice the nuances and variations at day’s end, and if possible, the sunset. Be present to the color and light variations during the setting sun. The evening light much like the early morning light holds a spiritual space for greater self-awareness for the beauty of our very unique lives.
8. Create A Special Care Practice, Just for You:
Is there something that holds a personal interest to you or something that brings a smile when this comes to mind as something to explore and cultivate? This could be a summer food ritual, an outdoor ritual, a quiet time ritual, an exercise ritual, etc. Whatever it is, this is yours! Notice what this is and make a written or mental note of what this is. Take loving action on what you noted so you can feel and own this practice in body, mind, and spirit this Summer.
9. Start A Summer Gratitude and Reverence Practice:
Part of self-care is to make it known to self what it is you’re thankful and grateful for, and what you hold in reverence. Intentionally thinking, speaking, and writing these will become known to not only to your conscious but to the whole of the Universe as well. Calling forth gratitude and reverence gives abundance and goodness from you to others.
10. Nurture Your Skin:
Protect your skin all summer and throughout the year using a chemical-free sunscreen while nourishing your skin with organic and chemical-free moisturizers. Drinking plenty of water and enjoy nature’s abundance with delicious and nutrient-dense fruits and veggies.
Do you have any summer self-care rituals that did not get mentioned above? If so, please share them with us in the comments section below!
– Nancy
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Hello! Nice to meet you. I work with busy working women who want to have a balanced life but struggle with making themselves a priority. Together we create a plan for work-life-balance that is easy and achievable so they can feel energized and in control again. It is my honor to guide and serve!
